Silver was late; this was a first and Blaze couldn't help feeling concerned. She was stood before the fountain at the heart of the main island's town in the early afternoon; sun hanging high in a nearly cloudless sky, cobbled street beneath. The Princess could feel eyes upon her, her being outside the castle usually meant some kind of event; for better or worse. Oftentimes it meant some kind of invasion so understandably citizens were on edge. There were no festivities planned for today, likely further raising the townsfolk's suspicions, she'd wanted to treat her friend to lunch from a new bakery that had opened on the east side of town. She thought he'd probably enjoy sweet foods, having had so few in his destroyed future, and he'd never been late to a meeting before before. She gripped her arm, tapping her foot; she'd give him just five more minutes before beginning to search. He could have gone anywhere with that power of his, any of the islands were within his reach… he might have overexerted, ran out of energy and fallen asleep on one. That was the best-case scenario at least; he could have gotten himself into some kind of trou-
"Blaze! Blaze!" She recognised his voice immediately, worry lingering in her heart she quickly turned to him but the sight wasn't nearly as cruel as she expected. He was untouched, unharmed, floating from the sky toward her with one hand waving and the other was held behind him. He landed before her, a sheepish smile on his face, "I'm sorry I'm late, I got a little distracted. I was in the forest."
He was uninjured, he'd delayed himself on accident; she was relieved yet at the same time felt a small twinge of disappointment. To break their perfect record over such a small thing, it wasn't a huge deal but she still felt some kind of disapproval. Her stance straightened, she folded her arms, "Well I'm glad you enjoyed yourself but try to keep better time. If you'd been any longer I would have set out searching for you, we might have missed this entirely." She couldn't help noticing that arm, still held behind him while the other was at his side. She tried not to stare, kept her eyes flickering between him and their surroundings.
"Oh, that makes sense. I'm really sorry, but I got you these; they just looked so pretty I couldn't just leave them there." And from behind his back Silver produced a dozen flowers bundled together, purple lilies with deep orange anther, and held them out to her. Immediately Blaze felt more eyes upon both of them, instantly Blaze felt her heat rise and went to scan Silver's face; only to see a kind smile. There wasn't a hint of embarrassment; there wasn't a touch of shyness to his face or even anticipation, no redness and no goofy expression. He looked exactly the same as he had upon arriving, now holding out a bouquet as though it were natural. She'd never known him to be this hard to read, the hedgehog wore his heart on his cuff and subtlety wasn't in his repertoire, yet he stood calm and regular having brought her a bouquet? This bordered on the unbelievable, he wasn't exactly being smooth but it showed a confidence and inclinations she'd never known from him.
She gently took the flowers, feeling the eyes of surrounding citizens weigh on her more and more with each passing second. She couldn't look him in the eyes, not with that unreadable expression on his face; she looked down to the flowers but only felt herself grow hotter and hotter. "Th-Thank you Silver, they're… they're wonderful, I had no idea you felt so strongly about this meeting. I suppose we are… I suppose this is kind of like a…" She was feeling a heat she had never felt before, overflowing with emotions; the weight of those watching crushed her but there was an additional weight in the centre of her chest, growing heavier with each passing second as she looked to the flowers. The word date hung on her tongue yet she was at a complete loss for words.
"Eh? Blaze, are you okay? You're quite red, have you got a fever or something? Is everything alright?" Her eyes snapped to him, his great golden orbs held a look of concern yet his face still wore no embarrassment? Neither fear nor even doubt in his actions, no matter how she looked at him she saw only concern for her wellbeing. He was leaning in now with a hand extended, previously this wouldn't have shocked her but with all these feelings bubbling she couldn't help but flinch slightly; "It's alright if you need to go rest, your health is more important than-
"No no! We'll go, we'll go!" She grabbed his hand with her free one, beginning to half march and half drag him toward the bakery; shoes clacking loudly on the cobbled pavement. She tried to avoid the gaze of others as she passed, almost attempting to hide her face behind the flowers. She was trying to keep her hands cool most of all, with emotions flaring like this she risked heating up too much and burning him, the flowers or both. This meant she could feel her face steaming so hot as to prompt recoil on touch. She dared to glance back to him over her shoulder and caught his eyes; she could see nothing but the usual smile and joyous light albeit with a twinge of confusion. Likely because she was leading the way quite so briskly, she willed herself to slow walking side by side with him, back to focusing on the flowers.
As she did so, still holding his hand quite tightly (her thumb overlapped his but their fingers weren't intertwined), he began to talk again. "Yeah I thought they were nice, I'm glad you like them so much. There weren't too many of them so I wanted to make sure you could see them, they're purple like you."
It was a simple statement that she usually wouldn't blink twice at but now it felt emotionally charged, like he was looking for things she'd enjoy in his everyday life. "Y-You're so naïve, don't pull up flowers for me again, it's not good for them. We'll just go see them together next time." He'd called the flowers pretty before and now he'd compared them to her fur, it was a roundabout way of calling her pretty but it stuck in Blaze's mind like a tack in her foot.
"Oh, alright sure! I've seen a bunch of places I'm sure you'd like… then again, this is your dimension… you've probably seen them all already right?" At the twinge of disappointment in his realisation her head whipped straight to him.
"No I'm sure I'd love it regardless, don't worry about whether or not I've seen anything it'll be a new experience seeing it with you." She almost stumbled over the word love but forced herself to say it, she was feeling a lot of brand new complex emotions quite suddenly. All of their prior actions were being recontextualized in her mind, from the days they'd slept together in crisis city to the smallest of hugs and hand holds all the way to her own sacrifice. Each of these actions now appeared more intimate in Blaze's eyes, a romantic context she hadn't even considered now plainly apparent.
"Oh alright well I found this cool mountain lake if you want to visit there tomorrow." Blaze felt her tail and ears shoot straight; she shot him a glance and was again met with that unreadable, regular, smile. She looked back to the flowers. This event that she was now certain he viewed as a date, and she couldn't help but do so too, wasn't even over yet he was already asking her on another? For the first time in her life she was feeling slow, Silver had completely slipped the rug from beneath her and showing an interest she had never seen before. Suddenly she felt him stop, interrupting her train of thought, his right hand reached out and touched her forehead, recoiling a little at the heat before pressing into it; "You're burning up quite a lot Blaze, are you certain you're alright? I know when you get sick the fever can be rather intense."
They were two buildings away from the bakery, Blaze let herself stop and turned to him; keeping hold of his right hand. "I'm fine Silver, I just… I didn't think you cared so much about today and I wasn't expecting the flowers. I'm fine I just wasn't prepared for all of this, I need to sort out some feelings."
"Well of course, every day with you is important to me Blaze and I thought you might like the flowers but I didn't think you'd care this much. I'm glad I picked them! If you say you're okay then let's keep going." He was still so naïve, despite turning her into this boiling mess he was still the same Silver. She felt far too embarrassed to go into this bakery and order, she wasn't sure she'd be able to get the works out; let alone flowers in hand. They finished the journey, arriving outside the bakery, and Blaze quickly spotted a nearby bench.
She released their handhold, rummaging through her pockets and producing her purse. "Just get me something for lunch, a pastry with meat or something and tea if they sell it; just milk. Get whatever you want." She didn't have the energy to give intricate instructions right now, let alone with how new Silver was to purchasing… hopefully nothing would go wrong. She lowered herself onto the bench, setting the flowers down next to her; she took a deep breath and ran a hand down her face. This was fine, she could deal with this, they'd have lunch, go their separate ways and she could figure this all out. She kept her eyes glued to the pavement, the once cold metal bench already warmed beneath her. This had come completely out of the blue, they'd been going on outings like this ever since he'd arrived in her dimension… had they all been dates? What was happening? She could feel her body slowly cooling; she was almost over this, they could have a more serious conversation about this. It was quite sudden but, by what she was feeling in her chest and thinking to their past, this love was not unrequited. She picked the flowers back up, examining them. They were already beginning to wilt a little, she'd have to get them into water quite soon if she wanted them to last through tomorrow. As she picked up the flowers, however, attempting to focus, she could feel eyes shift to her once again. She was a monarch here; her actions well known, word of her and the flowers would spread let alone Silver. She could feel her temperature begin to rise again as Silver exited the bakery, foodstuffs hovering around him and purse in hand.
She set the flowers across her legs as he returned her purse, floating her a cup as well as a paper bag. "I'm not sure if it was expensive or not but they had tea and that's a pasty I think? It has chicken in it, that's for certain." She could certainly smell it, some pepper and cheese also.
"I'm sure it will be good Silver, thank you." She would sip the tea without worrying about the temperature, gently patting the bench next to her. He lowered himself, a similar bag and paper cup floating into his hands. Blaze sat the drink beneath her, she could feel the heat spreading once again but knew she would have to act now and make things clear. He opened his bag, producing what looked and smelt to be an apple muffin of sorts… it wasn't good nutrition but as she had expected, he seemed to enjoy sweet foods. She gently looped her right arm around him… not quite his waist but lower than his shoulders, "So, have you been feeling this way for a while? I didn't know you were… I didn't think you…"
He'd taken a bite and went to talk but seemingly remembering one of the things she'd taught him he swallowed first. "Feel what way Blaze?" Almost instinctively he copied her movement, wrapping an arm around her. The heat surged, she could smell the flowers beginning to cook in her lap, there hadn't been a moment of hesitation from him; not a blink.
She took a deep breath, "…Well, you brought me flowers and I didn't realise that you were… such a romantic sort. Old fashioned even."
At that Silver's face went from the dopey happiness of eating the apple muffin, the taste perhaps a little too much for him, to purest scarlet; ears pointing high into the air. "W-W-What? Romantic? I... the flowers?"
Blaze blinked twice, suddenly the heat within her was vanishing and a cold taking its place. "Yes, the flowers. The kind people bring on dates and give to their loved ones… it's a romantic thing."
Silver's eyes widened, she could feel him trembling against her; "I…I didn't know that flowers. Meant that, I just thought they were pretty and purple like you and-
"I see." She brought her hand back, looking down at the pasty. The heat had vanished and with it so had the hunger she had been feeling. Her breath slowed, she hadn't considered that this might be an option. Silver was from the future, a destroyed future of another world no less. It was always possible that he had no idea what this gesture meant, what any of his gestures might have meant. Now she was left with their history contextualised by romantic inclinations unreturned, a cold and empty feeling in her chest to replace the bubbling warmth she had been feeling. The flowers on her legs were no longer burning but a small smoke wisp billowed up from them.
And yet his hand was still lingering on her side, she turned to him with her brows furrowed only to find his eyes were closed; his redness remained across his face. "I-I guess I-I should… I want to?" He squeaked, still shaking quite a lot. "I-I didn't mean anything by the flowers but that d-doesn't mean I don't… uhm…" He was positively squirming now, feet crossing and uncrossing constantly. "I guess I… I think I would… I'm…"
She felt the warmth spread in her chest again, he was acting far more like she'd expected when he'd first gifted the flowers. He hadn't said anything of significance and yet there was already a blush on his face, he was struggling to meet her eyes and with every second word there was a shift based in a deeply set uncertainty. His left hand was on his knee with the right still coiled around her, it seemed to be taking the sum total of his will to maintain this loose grasp. Blaze could read him completely. She took a deep breath and returned her arm around him; this time around his waist. "If you're not ready to have this talk that's fine, we've… we've opened the door on this. We don't have to go through it yet if you're not prepared." She was taking the lead; yes this was far closer how she'd imagined things might go on those quiet nights. "After today a lot of new thoughts have been brought to the forefront of my mind, I think I would like to but there's no reason to rush this."
Silver seemed to have relaxed a little bit at that, taking a few breaths and a second to think; "I… I need to do some research, have I done things like this before? Like the flowers before? I-I mean if we were going to be like… together together, I-I'd have to do more right?"
"Well." Blaze nodded to the hand around her side. "Our relationship has always been closer than is typical. I'm not certain how much things would really change." She was still far from regular, redness to her cheeks and a heat still present, but she had calmed down enough to explain these things to him. "Bringing me flowers, while in some ways a step up, is generally a step down from the closeness we shared in that city. It's just more… blatant than past actions, I believe would be how to phrase it."
"R-Right… okay. Alright, I think I can do this." She felt the grip around her side tighten a little, there was less shaking but he was thoroughly reddened. "I-I'll get some books, I'll figure out what I should be doing a-and-
"You're doing fine Silver, if you want to research I won't stop you but this was… this was pretty good. You were romantic and sweet without even intending to be." Blaze took a sip of her tea; while she was enjoying this they couldn't let the food go cold. Soon she'd be back to her station, Gardon might scold her for being late as it was. She took a bite of the pasty, sipped some tea but it was clearly still a little too hot for him but he fought through it. She knew eyes were still upon them, but now that it was clearer how he felt she could relax slightly. She tried to make idle conversation, pry through the awkwardness; " So, you've been enjoying your time here then, visiting natural places. I suppose it's a nice change."
Silver nodded, only a little of his muffin left already; "I-I have been enjoying it, I think it's nice to see so many different coloured things; everything's so vibrant." A light had returned to his eyes, cutting through the embarrassment; "I think I love it here, there are so many happy people and of course you're here and we're back together and things are just… things are nice now."
"I'm glad," She smiled, having finished her meal. "We'll part ways, for now, I'm sure Gardon's worried, but I should have more time tomorrow. We could prepare and go to that lake if you wanted?"
"O-Of course! Yeah, there's tons of stuff up there I want you to see a-and you might know some other paths and… y-yeah sure!" His hand gently left her side as he finished the muffin, drink still in hand, hers retracted from his waist as she disposed of the remains in a nearby bin.
She nodded to him; "Well, same time and place tomor-
His hand had grasped hers, there was redness clear to his face but he was looking at the pavement. Fingers were interlocked; his thumb had snuck beneath hers. The light of his symbol pulsing was obvious, even in the daylight. "W-We didn't do much, so can-can I walk you back to the-
"Yes, yes of course!" The heat was back in full force, slightly melted flowers in her right hand and Silver holding her left. She couldn't help releasing an initial warmth through her palms, cringing slightly, but he fought through it as her hand quickly cool. They'd slowly make their way back to the castle; at least she wasn't alone in her embarrassment this time.